Lost in a lot of the coverage of Saturday's game was a realization that in the city that never sleeps (on basketball), the Nets looked as good or better than the Knicks did, beating the Celtics. And there's a lot to say about Brooklyn's rise.
Some, like the Daily News, might have taken it just a bit too far. "New York City has a new hoops headquarters — and it’s in Brooklyn," wrote Joseph Stepansky and Thomas Tracy. Still, their colleague, Tim Smith, got it just about right. "By making the playoffs in their inaugural season in Brooklyn, the Nets have served notice that they are relevant on the NBA scene in New York City."
Others around the metropolitan area had it down pretty well, too. Mark Herrmann of Newsday wrote of how the Nets have ended their wandering from Teaneck to Commack and Uniondale, then from Piscataway to East Rutherford to Newark before getting their own place at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush. "With fans singing "Brook-lyn," shouting "Let's Go Nets" and chanting players' names it has been a long time coming. You could say the Nets are going nowhere, and finally that is a compliment," Herrmann wrote.
Wrote Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal, "Real energy has been gained with the Nets' move from Jersey to Brooklyn. It feels like the beginning of something."
Even P.J. Carlesimo got in on the act. He lamented that the Knicks and Nets played back-to-back, creating a gastronomical dilemma for those trying to enjoy both. "You'd have to watch how much beer you could drink in the Garden because you have to save up for the good food in Barclays," said the coach.
But the best line may have been Mikhail Prokhorov's. The man who's spent or committed more than a half-billion dollars to raise the franchise told the crowd before the game began, "I heard there is a blackout in Brooklyn and I’m here to turn on the lights," Prokorov said. So true.
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